I had an interesting conversation with my work colleagues about Brian Cox the other day.
Personally I can't stand him - whilst I was doing my PhD I was getting pissed on the night and (reluctantly to them at least) hearing D-Ream on the jukebox at the time. Mostly though I was in the lab working on getting my PhD and getting academic publications, then getting post-doc positions and then getting appointed to academic positions whilst reasearching, supervising students, doing teaching, attending conferences etc.
Later in life I discover that one said member of that band is now a wurld famous 'physicist' and is a genius - whilst apparently having done the crucial years being the keyboard player touring the world in that band.
How so? I've always wondered- is he *really* a physicist?
It seems all of us academic scientists (well 'all' being the various people I chatted to last week) can't stand him for those very reasons. He has a degree sure (a PhD? apparently yes), but he's got not much of an academic record to speak of really - like a proper professor would be absolutely required to - even a junior lecturer would probably have a better publication record.
But - of course- we is spreading the word and is therefore almost beyond value in making science cool. Hence he's on just about every grant CERN want to put in as he is the impact. And what an impact. Impact that's him, not the actual science.
Not really a proper professor in the usual academic sense.
Jim Al-Khalili is bona fide - I do like him a lot - but then as you say - he gets Citroen when Cox gets the Mustang. Typically though Cox does in the end - probably get more grant money for his public profile. We need a chemist like this - I wonder of one of 1 Direction is doing a degree in chemistry...?